24 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ch. 



the City of London Liberal Association ; and 

 agreed to do so, though with some doubt, saying 

 that " he received with pleasure the suggestion 

 that he should move the adoption of an address 

 to Mr. Gladstone, whom he had followed long, 

 and with feelings of warm personal admiration. 

 At the same time he had some little hesitation, 

 because he thought there might be a feeling that 

 the motion should be proposed as well as seconded 

 by those who had followed Mr. Gladstone on the 

 Home Rule question. If that feeling were enter- 

 tained by any present he would only say that he 

 was acting in response to an invitation by the 

 Chairman and Committee, and he would merely 

 add on that point that, while firmly adhering to 

 the views which they had hitherto held and still 

 hold, they joined cordially in the proposal to 

 present such an address. There might be a word 

 here and there which some might think did not 

 go far enough or went too far, but in the spirit 

 they all cordially united. They deeply regretted 

 the cause which had necessitated Mr. Gladstone's 

 retirement from office. He had been closely 

 identified with all the great reforms of the last 

 half-century. In the adoption of Free Trade, in 

 the removal of civil and religious disabilities, in 

 the development of education, in the simplifica- 

 tion of the financial system, in the wise efforts 

 they had made in the reduction of the National 

 Debt, and in many other great reforms, he had 

 borne a prominent, he might say the prominent 

 part. His biography for the last fifty years was 

 the history of our country. They were occasion- 

 ally told that there was something inherently dis- 



